Organic Farming frees us from pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers,

07/07/2013 – א׳ באב ה׳תשע״ג – א׳ באב ה׳תשע״ג – 22:06

How Organic Farming Could Release Us From the Curse of Fertilizer

By Dr. Mercola July 02, 2013 https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/07/02/fertilizer.aspx

organic farm

Environmental pollution is a significant problem. But while most of the focus is placed on polluting industries, toxins like mercury and small particle traffic pollution, a major source of environmental devastation is caused by modern food production. Far from being life sustaining, our modern chemical-dependent farming methods:

Strip soil of nutrients

Destroy critical soil microbes

Contribute to desertification and global climate change, and

Saturate farmlands with toxic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers that then migrate into ground water, rivers, lakes and oceans.

For example, many areas of Minnesota, which is prime farmland, now face the problem of having dangerously elevated levels of nitrogen in their drinking water.

The conversion of grasslands and pastures into chemical-driven, industrial crop land has eliminated much of the natural filtering of ground water that such native landscapes typically provide. Health risks of nitrogen include a potential connection to cancer, as well as thyroid and reproductive problems in both humans and livestock.

Looming Fertilizer Shortage Could Spell the End of Modern Agriculture

Modern fertilizer consists of varying amounts of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). These three are believed to be essential for plants to grow, (below, I’ll discuss why NPK may not be as necessary as we think.), and are extracted from the soil with each harvest.

This is why farmers spread fertilizer on their fields, to replace the nutrients lost. It’s certainly not the ideal and sustainable way to farm, but it’s thought to be the most efficient for large-scale farms. Strategies like crop rotation and allowing large fields to rest would cut too deep into profits that are based on quantity, opposed to quality.

Unfortunately, the Earth’s soil is now being depleted of nutrients at more than 13 percent the rate it can be replaced. Not only that, but according to some, we may also be facing looming shortages of two critical fertilizer ingredients: phosphorus and potassium.

A 2012 article in Mother Jones¹ discussed “peak phosphorus and potassium,” drawing lines of similarity between the diminishing reserves of these natural elements and “peak oil.”

Unlike nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium cannot be synthesized, and our aggressive large-scale farming methods, which deplete soils of nutrients that then must be replaced, are quickly burning through available phosphorus and potassium stores.

According to well-known investor Jeremy Grantham, writing for Nature:

“These two elements cannot be made, cannot be substituted, are necessary to grow all life forms, and are mined and depleted. It’s a scary set of statements. Former Soviet states and Canada have more than 70 percent of the potash. Morocco has 85 percent of all high-grade phosphates. It is the most important quasi-monopoly in economic history.

What happens when these fertilizers run out is a question I can’t get satisfactorily answered and, believe me, I have tried. There seems to be only one conclusion: their use must be drastically reduced in the next 20-40 years or we will begin to starve.”

This largely unknown issue may end up playing a more significant role than you can currently imagine, because it cuts to the heart of the sustainability of modern agricultural practices, or rather the lack thereof.

“[T]he next time someone facilely insists that the ‘industrial farms are the future,’ ask what the plan is regarding phosphorus,” Mother Jones writes. “Developing an agriculture that’s ready for a phosphorus shortage means a massive focus on recycling the nutrients we take from the soil back into the soil—in other words, composting, not on a backyard level but rather on a society-wide scale.

It also requires policies that give farmers incentives to build up organic matter in soil, so it holds in nutrients instead of letting them leach away… Both of these solutions, of course, are specialties of organic agriculture.”

Monoculture vs. Polyculture

Monoculture (or monocropping) is defined as the high-yield agricultural practice of growing a single crop year after year on the same land, in the absence of rotation through other crops. Corn, soybeans, wheat, and to some degree rice, are the most common crops grown with monocropping techniques. In fact, corn, wheat and rice now account for 60 percent of human caloric intake, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.²

By contrast, polyculture (the traditional rotation of crops and livestock) better serves both land and people. Polyculture evolved to meet the complete nutritional needs of a local community. Polyculture, when done mindfully, automatically replenishes what is taken out, which makes it sustainable with minimal effort.

If it’s true that we may at some point face a shortage of phosphorus and potassium, large-scale farming facilities would be hard-pressed to produce much of anything after a short while. Such shortages might even lead to geopolitical strife, as phosphate rock is primarily concentrated in the occupied territory of the Western Sahara region of Morocco. It may sound farfetched to some, but how far would a nation go to secure access to such a location if the future of the entire agricultural industry and food supply depended on it?

Monocropping Is NOT the Way to Feed a Growing Population

The evidence tells us that forging more sustainable alternatives is imperative if we hope to survive. Yet proponents of factory farms and genetically engineered crops argue that monocropping, or crop specialization, is the only way to feed the masses and that it’s far more profitable than having small independent farms in every township.

But is this really true? A number of studies show just the opposite! In fact, studies are showing that medium-sized organic farms are far more profitable than ANY sized industrial agricultural operation.

For example, researchers at the University of Wisconsin’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Michael Fields Agricultural Institute³ (results published in 2008 in the Agronomy Journal)⁴ found that traditional organic farming techniques of planting a variety of plants to ward off pests is more profitable than monocropping. The organic systems resulted in higher profits than “continuous corn, no-till corn and soybeans, and intensively managed alfalfa.”

Not only that, but organic farming practices use natural, time-tested techniques that naturally prevents soil depletion and destruction, and doesn’t use chemical fertilizers and other agricultural chemicals that pollute our soil, air, and waterways.

In the study just mentioned, the researchers concluded that government policies supporting monoculture are “outdated,” and that it’s time for support to be shifted toward programs that promote crop rotation and organic farming. As it turns out, when you eliminate the agricultural chemicals, specialized machinery and multi-million dollar buildings, fuel costs, insurance costs, and the rest of the steep financial requirements of a big industrial operation, your cost of producing food takes a serious dive into the doable. And did I mention… the food from organic farms tend to be far more nutritious, besides being free of toxic contaminants?

Even the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is starting to question our current path of monoculture. It recently released a report titled: “Climate Change and Agriculture in the United States.”⁵ According to the report, our current agricultural system, which is dominated by corn and soy, is unsustainable in the long term. Should temperatures rise as predicted, the US could expect to see significant declines in yields by the middle of this century. Food shortages would be inevitable, since little besides these crops are grown. (Keep in mind the primary crops grown in the US are used in processed food production, so countless numbers of food products would be affected by massive crop loss.)

Nitrogen Overuse Threatens the Environment

Going back to where we started, the overuse of nitrogen in farming is causing far more environmental devastation than many currently comprehend. A recent National Geographic article⁶ addresses this issue:

“’Runaway nitrogen is suffocating wildlife in lakes and estuaries, contaminating groundwater, and even warming the globe’s climate. As a hungry world looks ahead to billions more mouths needing nitrogen-rich protein, how much clean water and air will survive our demand for fertile fields?’

China, the world’s largest producer of synthetic nitrogen, has hundreds of nitrogen factories, and the country’s farmers apply vast amounts of nitrogen to their fields. One rice farmer reports spreading no less than 530 pounds of urea, a dry form of nitrogen, on each acre. Vegetable farmers use even more than that. According to the featured article,⁷ some use upwards of two tons of nitrogen each hectare (2.47 acres).

‘Few of them think they’re doing anything harmful. No, no pollution,’ says Song, when asked about the environmental effects of fertilizer,’ the article states. “Scientists tell a different story. ‘Nitrogen fertilizer is overused by 30 to 60 percent’ in intensively managed fields, says Xiaotang Ju, of the China Agricultural University in Beijing. ‘It’s misuse!’ Once spread on fields, nitrogen compounds cascade through the environment, altering our world, often in unwelcome ways. Some of the nitrogen washes directly from fields into streams or escapes into the air. Some is eaten, in the form of grain, by either humans or farm animals, but is then released back into the environment as sewage or manure from the world’s growing number of pig and chicken farms.”

Water pollution, as mentioned earlier, is one of the side effects of such overuse. In a matter of decades, rivers that used to run crystal clear though Chinese provinces are now cloudy from overgrowth of phytoplankton, fed by fertilizer runoff from the fields. According to National Geographic:

“A recent national survey of 40 lakes in China found that more than half of them suffered from too much nitrogen or phosphorus. (Fertilizer containing phosphorus is often to blame for algal growth in lakes.)

The best known case is Lake Tai, China’s third largest freshwater lake, which regularly experiences huge blooms of toxic cyanobacteria. A spreading bloom in 2007 contaminated water supplies for two million people in the nearby city of Wuxi. Excess nutrients are damaging fisheries in China’s coastal areas in the same way that fertilizer runoff flowing down the Mississippi has destroyed fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico: by creating dead zones in which algae and phytoplankton bloom, die, and decompose, using up oxygen and suffocating fish.”

Finding the Middle Ground of Good Harvests with Reduced Fertilizer Pollution

National Geographic describes a research project in Michigan that has been ongoing for the past two decades. The project is part of Michigan State University’s Kellogg Biological Station, near Kalamazoo. Here, fields that are exactly one hectare in size provide side-by-side comparisons of four different farming methods, ranging from conventional to organic. Everything that is added to or removed from each field is carefully measured, including rainfall, fertilizer, nitrous oxide, water that leaches into groundwater, and the harvest itself. According to the article:

“Each field planted according to standard plowing and fertilizer recommendations released 610 pounds of nitrogen per acre into Michigan’s shallow groundwater over the past 11 years… The organic fields in Robertson’s experiment, which received no commercial fertilizer or manure, lost only a third as much—but those fields also produced 20 percent less grain.

Intriguingly, the ‘low input’ fields, which received small amounts of fertilizer but were also planted with winter cover crops, offered the best of both worlds: Average yields were about as high as those from the conventional fields, but nitrogen leaching was much reduced, almost to the level of the organic fields.

If America’s farmers could cut their nitrogen losses to something close to this level… restored wetlands and revived small streams could clean up the rest. As in China, though, many farmers find it hard to change. When a family’s livelihood is at stake, it may seem safer to apply too much fertilizer rather than too little. ‘Being a good steward currently has economic consequences that are unfair,’ says Robertson.”

How Sustainable Soil Science Can Help Rescue Our Environment and Food Supply

I recently interviewed Dr. Elaine Ingham,⁸ an internationally recognized expert on the benefits of sustainable soil science. I also recently visited her at her new position at the Rodale Institute in Pennsylvania. According to Dr. Ingham, a key component of successful agriculture lies in having the right helper organisms in the soil; beneficial species of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, beneficial nematodes (not the weedfeeders), microarthropods, and earthworms—all of which contribute to plant growth in a number of different ways.

Nutrient cycling is another major issue. According to Dr. Ingham, there’s no soil on Earth that lacks the nutrients to grow a plant. She believes the concept that your soil is deficient and needs added phosphorus or nitrogen etc in order to grow plants is seriously flawed, and largely orchestrated by the chemical companies, because it’s based on looking at the soluble, inorganic nutrients that are partly present in your soil.

The real nutrition your plants require is actually derived from microorganisms in the soil. These organisms take the mineral material that’s in your soil and convert it into a plant-available form. Without these bioorganisms, your plants cannot get the nutrients they need. So what you need is not more chemical soil additives, what you need is the proper balance of beneficial soil organisms. According to Dr. Ingham:

“It’s very necessary to have these organisms. They will supply your plant with precisely the right balances of all the nutrients the plant requires. When you start to realize that one of the major roles and functions of life in the soil is to provide nutrients to the plants in the proper forms, then we don’t need inorganic fertilizers. We certainly don’t have to have genetically engineered plants or to utilize inorganic fertilizers if we get this proper biology back in the soil.

If we balance the proper biology, we select against the growth of weeds, so the whole issue with herbicides is done away with. We don’t need the herbicides if we can get the proper life back into the soil and select for the growth of the plants that we want to grow and against the growth of the weedy species.”

Interestingly enough, you can use a starter culture to boost the fermentation and generation of beneficial bacteria much in the same way you can boost the probiotics in your fermented vegetables. For compost, this strategy is used if you want to compost very rapidly. In that case, you can use a starter to inoculate the specific sets of organisms that you need to encourage in that compost.

For optimal physical health, you need plant foods to contain the full set of nutrients that will allow the plant to grow in a healthy fashion, because that’s the proper balance of nutrients for us human beings as well. Dr. Ingham has written several books on this topic, including The Field Guide for Actively Aerated Compost Tea, and The Compost Tea Brewing Manual.

How to Help Support Sustainable Agriculture

If you want to optimize your health, you simply must return to the basics of healthy food choices and typically this includes buying your food from responsible, high-quality, sustainable sources. This is why I encourage you to support the small family farms in your area. This includes not only visiting the farm directly, if you have one nearby, but also taking part in farmer’s markets and community-supported agriculture programs.

Not only is the food so much tastier and healthier when you get it from sustainable, non-CAFO sources, but there is something about shopping for fresh foods in an open-air, social environment that just feels right. An artificially lit, dreary supermarket — home to virtually every CAFO food made — just can’t compete. If you want to experience some of these benefits first-hand, here are some great resources to obtain wholesome food that supports not only you but also the environment:

Alternative Farming Systems Information Center, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Farmers’ Markets — A national listing of farmers’ markets.

Local Harvest — This Web site will help you find farmers’ markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area where you can buy produce, grass-fed meats, and many other goodies.

Eat Well Guide: Wholesome Food from Healthy Animals — The Eat Well Guide is a free online directory of sustainably raised meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs from farms, stores, restaurants, inns, and hotels, and online outlets in the United States and Canada.

Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) — CISA is dedicated to sustaining agriculture and promoting the products of small farms.

FoodRoutes — The FoodRoutes “Find Good Food” map can help you connect with local farmers to find the freshest, tastiest food possible. On their interactive map, you can find a listing for local farmers, CSAs, and markets near you.

Sources and References

Electricity boosts crop yield by 30% while reducing pesticides and fertilizers

brian wang | September 18, 2018 https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2018/09/electricity-boosts-crop-yield-by-30-while-reducing-pesticides-and-fertilizers.html

China Electric Greenhouse

China uses electricity instead of chemical pesticides and fertilizers to boost the growth of vegetables and fruits.
Electricity boosted vegetable output by 20 to 30 percent. Pesticide use has decreased 70 to 100 percent. And fertilizer consumption has dropped more than 20 percent.

One hectare of electrified greenhouse requires about 15 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day, which is about half the power usage of an average American family. In just two years the electrified vegetables had brought in extra revenue of nearly 1.2 million yuan (US$175,000) for one company.

Inside the greenhouse the air smells like the aftermath of a summer thunderstorm. Humidity is low and the plants rarely get sick.
The biggest expense is the installation cost which can be costing tens of thousands of yuan (a few thousand dollars per hectare).

China has been conducting the world’s largest experiment and the results are transforming agricultural production in the world’s most populous nation with a jolt.

Across the country, from Xinjiang’s remote Gobi Desert to the developed coastal areas facing the Pacific Ocean, vegetable greenhouse farms with a combined area of more than 3,600 hectares (8,895 acres) have been taking part in an “electro culture” programme funded by the Chinese government.

The vegetables grow under bare copper wires, set about three metres (10 feet) above ground level and stretching end to end under the greenhouse roof. The wires are capable of generating rapid, positive charges as high as 50,000 volts, or more than 400 times the standard residential voltage in the US.

The high frequency electricity kills bacteria and virus-transmitting diseases in the air or soil. It also suppresses the surface tension of water on leaves, accelerating vaporization.

Within the plants, the transport of naturally charged particles, such as bicarbonate and calcium ions, speed up and metabolic activities, like carbon dioxide absorption and photosynthesis, also increase.

China Electric Greenhouse detail

The electric current flowing through the wires is only a few millionths of an ampere by volume – lower than a smartphone cable’s workload.

“It does absolutely no harm to the plants or to humans standing nearby,” he said.

Thanks to the positive findings of the study, the area devoted to electrified farms in China is now growing with unprecedented speed, according to Liu, from 1,000 to 1,300 hectares each year.

40% growth in electro culture farming could be achieved within the next 12 months.

Comments:Glockman
There is some truth to all this. Search Wheaton 1968, Effects of various electrical fields on seed
germination. He wrote his PhD dissertation on the subject. Plants have ion channels, so they react to electricity, some very little, some a lot, some well, others not so well. Each plant, or seed, has its optimum “electro-culture” ionization. All this has been looked at for at least a few hundred years.

The problem lies in commercialization. The cost of set-up and maintenance seems to outweigh eventual yield improvements. Basically you are performing controlled lightning strikes on seeds and plants. And of course this takes place where water and humidity are necessary.

The Chinese effort is secret. The scientists leading the effort haven’t published their findings so it’s impossible to check their work. They do hint, however, that power usage was pretty high.

Put it this way: if you have a very high-value crop (e.g., artisanal tomato) and each plant is looked after meticulously and has it’s own controlled environment, AND you also deploy air-ions, it just might be worth it. But then you need to have your own source of power.

By Staff | Posted in Life in Jerusalem, Positive Thinking | Tagged Electricity boosts crop yield, fertilizers, herbicides, Organic Farming, pesticides | Comments Off

Smuggling Tefillin into Auschwitz

25/06/2013 – י״ז בתמוז ה׳תשע״ג – י״ז בתמוז ה׳תשע״ג – 16:19

Next time The Yetzer (evil inclination) talks to you about not wearing Tefillin watch this:

Holocaust survivor Leibel Zisman tells how he smuggled Tefillin into Auschwitz death camp.

23June2013 https://collive.com/smuggling-tefillin-into-auschwitz/#.UcdOUJq3kKY.facebook

By Staff | Posted in Positive Thinking, Video | Tagged Smuggling Tefillin into Auschwitz | Comments Off

You are a Princess

22/06/2013 – ט״ו בתמוז ה׳תשע״ג – ט״ו בתמוז ה׳תשע״ג – 22:04

Wartime Blitz dance images of Princess Elizabeth

Women’s Snood

A Princess is modest (Tznius) in her dress. It does not have to be expensive or fancy, just comfortable, not tight or stretchy, and can cover up.

Even as a teenager Princess (Queen) Elizabeth dressed properly.

Cover your Elbows, and Collarbone. Your Skirt should be mid-calf or lower. And Please no pants. Men wear the Pants unless you are in Scotland. Kilts anyone.

Women if you are Married Please cover your hair with a Snood of stead of a Wig.

From Chabad.org Uncovering the Mystery of Modesty

From Breslov.co.il The Metamorphosis

Why is it important for a woman to dress modestly?

By Chaya Sarah Silberberg https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/626355/jewish/Why-is-it-important-to-dress-modestly.htm

Tzniut – modesty – has always been the hallmark of the Jewish woman, Tzniut in its greater sense is dignity and self-respect, an understanding of one’s intrinsic self-worth. When a woman acts and dresses in a tzniut way, she effectively tells the world that she expects to be judged as a human being with skills and capabilities, intellect and emotions, and not as a “piece of meat” that is being displayed to attract the attention of a buyer. Read the “suggested dress for women” section in any manual on how to apply for a serious job, and you will be amazed at how closely it correlates to the general laws of tzniut. Because the woman applying for a job is expected to be hired on the basis of her abilities, not her body…

It would seem to me that any true feminist would actively encourage all girls and women to dress tzniut! …

Queen Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, born 31 January 1938) is the former regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, having reigned from 1980 to 2013.

Love and Majesty It was, in 1947, that rarest of unions: a royal love match. But though the dashing Prince Philip of Greece and the 21-year-old heiress to Britain’s throne were clearly besotted as they began a life and family together, trouble lay ahead as “Lilibet” became “Her Majesty” and the new Duke of Edinburgh chafed at his consort role.

Princess Elizabeth and her son Charles

Princess Diana Holding Her Newborn Prince William Original caption: London: Prince William Arthur Philip Louis of Wales, son of British Crown Prince Charles and Princess of Wales Diana, sits for first formal portrait at Kensington Palace 7/20. Lord Snowdon, former husband of Princess Margaret, took the photos for the first wedding anniversary, 7/29, of Charles and Diana.

Lady Diana Watching Prince Charles Play Polo

25 Jul 1981, Tidworth, England, UK — Lady Diana watches Prince Charles play polo at Tidworth during their engagement. — Image by © Tim Graham/CORBIS

Queen Rania of Jordan and Princess Letizia of Spain19 April 2011

Prostitution

This is what you are supporting when you shop for Not Modest fashion.

Do you really want to look like this?

A Prostitute?

Clothing factory in jordan with female workers

http://www.schnews.org.uk/satire/index-sweatshop.html

Sweatshops still make your clothes

By Jake Blumgart https://www.salon.com/2013/03/21/sweatshops_still_make_your_clothes/

It’s been 16 years since Cha rles Kernaghan made Kathie Lee Gifford cry on national television, revealing that her Wal-Mart-sold clothing line was produced by Honduran children working 20-hour shifts. It was an essential moment in bringing labor conditions in the developing world — specifically in the garment industry — to the attention of the American public. [wpex Read more]

But not that much has changed. Looking back on the movement and its achievements in an interview, Kernaghan sounds defeated, even as he reels off the list of horrific factories exposed by his Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights.

Kernaghan’s gloomy mood stems from the report he is writing now on a recent trip to Northern Bengal, where the Institute secretly met with workers from the Rosita and Megatex factories to follow up on a previous exposé. The two factories produce expensive sweaters for an array of European apparel companies, companies which assure their customers that the workers are guaranteed the core rights established by the International Labor Organization (ILO), including freedom of association and the elimination of child labor.

Well, that turns out not to exactly be the case. And it turns out that most Americans still likely know very little about the conditions under which the clothes they wear were produced.

“It was ridiculous. In fact it was one of the worst factories we’ve seen,” says Kernaghan. “There was child labor, people were being beaten, cheated of their wages — and wages were very, very low. Male supervisors would constantly press young women to have sex with them.”

The Institute followed every development: The presidents of the workers’ committee (not even a legally recognized union) were both threatened with assassination. There was every reason to take these murderous threats seriously: the Bangladeshi Export Processing Zone Authority, which runs the free trade zone where the factories are located, is run by former military operatives. Police stations are located right outside the factory, and police cars stud the surrounding blocks, but not for the protection of the employees. When workers demonstrated for their rights, hundreds were beaten by the police and then fired. The committee presidents at the time were beaten, tortured, fired and banned from coming anywhere near the factory.

John Galliano, Christian Dior fashion designer, fired over Nazi Slur

John Galliano, fashion designer Nazi slur

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anti-semitic outbursts

On 25 February 2011, Dior announced they had suspended Galliano following his arrest over an alleged anti semitic tirade in a Paris bar.^[21] The same day, Paris-based citizen journalism site Citizenside received video of Galliano on a similar rant in the same bar the previous December. In the video a drunken Galliano, seated at a café table, insults a group of Italian women and declares “I love Hitler… People like you would be dead. Your mothers, your forefathers would all be fucking gassed.” This incident happened just before the Paris Fashion Week for Autumn/Winter 2011–12.

The show-business industry expressed mixed feelings towards the designer’s anti-semitic speech.^[22]^[23] Natalie Portman, who had an endorsement contract with Dior, said she was “deeply shocked” by Galliano’s comments and that “these still-existing prejudices… are the opposite of all that is beautiful.”^[24]^[25] On the other hand, another model for Dior, French actress Eva Green, said of the incident: “Sometimes, you can make mistakes. I don’t think he’s anti-semitic. I’m Jewish. I don’t think he has anything against the Jews. I think it’s more that he was probably a bit drunk.”^[26]

Galliano denied the allegations through his lawyer,^[27] and launched a defamation lawsuit against the couple accusing him of antisemitism.^[28] On 1 March 2011, Dior announced that it had begun procedures of dismissal for Galliano, with Dior’s chief executive Sidney Toledano stating, “I very firmly condemn what was said by John Galliano”.^[27] Dior announced it will continue to support the Galliano brand financially due to licence despite the scandal, and Bill Gaytten would replace John Galliano as creative director at the helm of Dior and the Galliano brand.^[29]

In France, expressing anti-semitic ideas is illegal. It was reported on 2 March 2011 that Galliano was to face trial in Paris for allegedly “making racist comments to customers in a café”. The trial commenced on 22 June 2011.^[30]^[31] Galliano’s lawyer argued that the “series of public outbursts during which he uttered racist and anti-Semitic insults in a Paris café” were the result of “work-related stress and multiple addictions.”^[32] On 8 September 2011, Galliano was found guilty of making anti-semitic remarks and sentenced to pay a total of €6,000 in suspended fines after a French court found him guilty of voicing public insults on account of race.^[33]

The FAST FASHION trap & how to escape | #whomademyclothes | Justine Leconte

Bernadette Banner:Buying a Knockoff of My Own Dress: An Educated Roast

Winning Working Woman in 5

No matter what your career or job is, if you follow the following guidelines that will take you less than five minutes to learn, you’ll be a guaranteed success at work…

By: Rabbi Lazer Brody Update date: 7/8/2018 https://www.breslev.co.il/articles/judaism/concepts_in_judaism/winning_working_woman_in_5.aspx?id=32815&language=english

It’s not easy to be a working woman, especially a working wife. If you must leave home to augment the family income, or even if you’re still single and supporting yourself, the name of the game the name of the game is to do your job in a businesslike fashion and leave your social life for home. The workplace is for work, not for socializing, which leads to wasting time, lower productivity and much worse…

There’s a secret in Judaism: Debauchery destroys income. You see this in the media every day. Some super-talented individuals get caught in scandalous behavior and, despite their super abilities, they destroy their career, income and future with their own indiscretions.

No matter what your career or job is, if you follow the following guidelines that will take you less than five minutes to learn, you’ll be a guaranteed success at work – a winning working woman. The more you follow these guidelines, the more you’ll invoke Divine blessing and assistance in everything you do.

Here goes:

1. Your speech should be courteous and polite, but official and in no way intimate. Never call a man by his first name, and don’t inquire about his life. Substitute “How are you, Sam?” for “How may I assist you, Mr. Stein”. Keep the verbal exchange to the bare minimum that’s required in your work.

2. Every woman likes to make a snazzy appearance in public. But, when you keep your dress and makeup modest, you move up the ladder and become distinguished, which has much more class than simply being snazzy. Men have an instinctive respect for a woman with class–not even a crass idiot would come on to a woman of true royalty, because women of true royalty wouldn’t be caught dead in a short skirt or a low-cut blouse. They wear tailored suits with a high-collared blouse, and a minimum of makeup. Remember, you too are royalty–you are the King’s daughter. Don’t cheapen yourself to attract cheap attention. Even if you work in a butcher shop, you’re not a piece of meat.

3. If your female coworkers dress immodestly or use crass language, find yourself a new job. The bad apples in the crate spoil the good ones. Even a bride in a lily-white gown smells terrible if she walks through a cow shed.

4. Be very careful in your relationship with your boss. Don’t tell him your personal problems and don’t listen to his. This is imperative, since many men take advantage of female employees. The minute your boss makes an eyewink out of line, inform him that you are the female kick-boxing champion of Brooklyn or Jerusalem and your husband is 6’5″, jealous, a black belt in Krav Maga and eats 3-lb. rib-steaks for breakfast. If that doesn’t deter your boss, resign.

5. Put a copy of Guard Your Tongue with a picture of the Chofetz Chaim on your desk. Even somebody with excessive cheekiness is embarrassed to misbehave while looking at a picture of the Chofetz Chaim. Also, instead of taking part in idle chatter, learn two halachas (laws) from the Chofetz Chaim–that’s superb body language to express that you’re not interested in small talk, and certainly not rudeness.

If you’re married, call your husband during your coffee and lunch breaks. It’s wonderful to speak to each other during the day; it brings you closer to each other, and keeps your mind focused on him.

The above guidelines work best in a wholesome atmosphere with wholesome people. If your work involves repeated contact with unwholesome coworkers or clients, then for the sake of your marriage and your own spiritual purity, pack up and leave.

To paraphrase the priestly blessing, may Hashem give you the aura of our ancestral mothers–Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah. G-d bless and success and a fantastic income, amen!

* * *

We invite you to visit Rabbi Lazer Brody’s award-winning daily web journal Lazer Beams.

Uncovering the Mystery of Modesty

By Blima Moskoff https://www.chabad.org/theJewishWoman/article_cdo/aid/958266/jewish/Uncovering-the-Mystery-of-Modesty.htm
A few years ago, my family and I spent our summer vacation up north in Tzfat, leaving our home in Central Israel for a few days. We were located smack in the heart of Tzfat’s Old City, right next to the Artist Quarter. We thought it would be a great place to take in the holiness of ancient times and for our children to have the freedom to run around in a small, quiet, almost village-like setting.

What we didn’t know was that every day hundreds of young American college students would be pouring through, right outside our door, as they made their way from the Artist’s Quarter to the other parts of the Old City. My husband and I decided to take the opportunity to reach out to these young men and women. [wpex Read more]

I breathed deeply and did my best to explain So I went over to one of the women and asked, “Hi, I see you are touring Israel. I was wondering if you have any questions that you’d like to ask a fellow English speaker.” She looked a little surprised, but after a couple of seconds, she asked, “Yeah, I was actually wondering about something. Why do the women cover themselves up so much?”

I only had a few minutes, as they were standing outside an ancient synagogue, waiting for their turn to go in. I breathed deeply and did my best to explain one of the most misunderstood aspects of Judaism.

A quick glance at an Orthodox community raises questions in the mind of one brought up in western culture. Why do they cover themselves up so much? Isn’t it hot? What are they hiding? Where do they come from? Get with the times!

One of the most misunderstood Hebrew words is tzniut, often translated as modesty. Tzniut is a concept highly valued in traditional Judaism, not only as an ideal for women to strive for, but for men as well. It is lauded as a most noble virtue, as proven by the Rabbinic statement, “There is nothing more beautiful than modesty.”

This idea hits western culture straight in the nose. In a world of “If you got it, flaunt it,” modesty is a trait to be avoided, something primitive, reminding us of images of some ancient family photo of a stiff great-grandmother from Europe. We’ve outgrown that concept, haven’t we?

But Judaism is an eternal religion. There’s no such thing as a Jewish law being outdated. Jews have been living within in the guidelines of the Torah for thousands of years, and they will continue to do so. Since the Torah does not demand from us what is archaic or not fair, perhaps our concept of tzniut needs to be re-examined.

One of the first mentions of tzniuts is in Midrash Tanchuma on Parshat Ki Sisah, which discusses the giving of the first Tablets (two stones on which were inscribed the Ten Commandments) to the Jewish people. This took place with elaborate fanfare, which the whole world knew about. The end result was the golden calf and a broken set of tablets. Our Creator then decided to give us the second tablets in a more private manner—a small, quiet event, between G‑d and the Jewish people. That was when G‑d said: “There is nothing more beautiful than tzniut,” a word which would more accurately be translated as privacy.

When something is secret, it’s specialPrivacy. Not quite as annoying a word as “modesty.” After all, who doesn’t value privacy? Children throughout the world enjoy secret clubhouses or private codes. And adults cherish private letters that they stash away at the back of their drawer, or call their spouses and children nicknames that only family members know the true meaning of. When something is secret, it’s special.

When something is private, it shows that we admire and appreciate it. Disclosing it to the public would degrade it and take away some of the exclusivity of whatever it is that we want to keep private.

But what exactly are we trying to hide? After all, Americans pride themselves on their openness and genuineness. By covering myself up, am I not simply putting on a front?

Let’s put that question on the back burner for a moment. Let’s talk about people. That is, what makes people who they are? If I were to describe my friend, I might say she is thin, dark haired and short. But is that who she really is? That could describe tens of people at any gathering (especially if it’s a Jewish function). Even if I would give a very detailed physical description, does that give a true portrait of my friend? Hopefully not. Hopefully, my friend has much deeper characteristics—such as thoughtfulness, generosity and patience. Or perhaps she is analytical and fair.

If someone had to describe you, would you want them to solely focus on how you look? Would someone want their epitaph to say, “He was blonde, tall, and a little heavy.”? Most thinking people hope that after they pass on, they will be remembered for their inner noble qualities. Because they know that these are the qualities that really count, the traits that made their life worth living.

Now let’s go back to our question. What is the purpose of tzniut? What are we covering up when we follow the Torah’s guidelines of proper dress?

More important than what we are covering is what we are exposing. The most prominent parts of the body that are allowed to be seen are the face and the hands. These two body parts express the inner self. The face reveals who we are: the smile, the eyes (which are windows to the soul), facial expressions, etc. Our hands represent what we do, our endeavors in life. Here we have it: the face and the hands, people’s inner content and their accomplishments. In other words, the part of ourselves that we may share with others is the spiritual self.

She is exposing her real self When people dress in accordance with the laws of tzniut, they are achieving two goals. Firstly, they are keeping private what should be private, thus enhancing the special intimacy between husband and wife. Additionally, they are allowing the outside world to get a true glimpse of who they really are.

Not only are the laws of tzniut not sexist, they actually serve to curb sexism. A woman who follows the laws of tzniut is ensuring that others see her for who she really is, not just for how she looks. When a woman covers up her body, she is not hiding her true identity. To the contrary, she is exposing her real self.

The greatly misunderstood concept of tzniut is actually a beautiful idea, integral to a spiritual life. Jewish philosophy speaks of many great rewards for those who follow these laws carefully, such as protection from physical harm , fertility and particularly bearing children who love Torah. But besides the payment promised, men and women who make tzniut a part of their lives will see benefits in improved relationships with others and a better sense of self.

So who is tzniut for anyway? Yes, it is to help others guard their eyes from what they should not see. But tzniut also tremendously enriches those who make the effort to incorporate it into their lives.[/wpex]

Metamorphosis into beauty

The Metamorphosis

By: Racheli Reckles https://www.breslev.co.il/articles/society/jewish_world/the_metamorphosis.aspx?id=22054&language=english

This morning I was picking up a few skirts that had fallen in my closet, when I ran into an old love…my high heeled boots! Oh, my beloved boots, how I missed you so! Nostalgia took over me. Suddenly I found myself reminiscing about the way I used to dress- trendy clothes and fashionable shoes… “The good ol’ days,” I thought. I delicately placed the shoe on my foot, imagining that I was Charedi Cinderella, but without my Prince Charming to do the drop-down-on-one-knee-thing. I hobbled over to the mirror, one foot four inches higher than the other, anticipating the grand moment when I would see myself once again as a modern, trendy young woman. I took a deep breath and looked in the mirror…. [wpex Read more]

Who was this person looking back at me? What a change- I had undergone a gradual, yet shocking, metamorphosis. Well, at least I didn’t end up as a giant cockroach, like the guy in the Franz Kafka story. “What happened to me?” I thought. My hair was completely covered with a scarf, and my body- well, honestly, there was not much you could see. All that was showing was a head, a neck, a vague black blob of loose shirts and skirts, and mismatched shoes at the bottom. For a short while, I missed my pants, which reminded me that I actually had two legs and not a mermaid-like bottom. I missed my tank tops, which reminded me that I had two arms that didn’t billow in the wind. I tried to remember what it felt like to walk around with my hair loose and flowing, or tied back in a cute ponytail. I envisioned how dramatic my eyes looked with eyeliner and mascara on them (not that I really wore it that much). It was a moment in which I suddenly found myself trying to recapture the me of the past.

Most “modern” women look at religious women with pity and maybe even slight revulsion. “Why would a woman let herself be oppressed like that?” you may wonder. I used to think this way myself. Why would a young, beautiful girl choose to dress like her grandmother, and not show off her curves? Why wouldn’t she want to wear the latest high heeled platforms that show off her legs? And what’s up with those crazy head coverings? Don’t they know they’re, like, totally unattractive?! “We’re not living in the Dark Ages anymore,” you may say. “We’re liberated women, free to dress as we’d like.” Really? Do you think that because you dress a certain way, that is the way you show the world you are liberated? Let’s examine this point…

Yes, our bodies might be liberated- too liberated, in fact. But at what price? Historically, freedom from oppression always came with a very high price- human life. And dear women, we are in fact paying that price today. When I look back on what I like to call my “former life”, I was paying a high price for my perceived liberation in so many ways. I was not at peace with myself, and I couldn’t figure out why. I had a general, vague anxiety and lack of direction in my life. I wasn’t happy with school, my choice of career, or anything else in my life. Now, I wasn’t depressed- I just didn’t have that inner peace that I have now. (My husband would probably laugh at this statement, since I don’t exactly come across that way when my kids drive me crazy!)

Look at your own lives, ladies. Be honest with yourselves. You might exercise your freedom to look as you wish, but your souls are probably not free. Your souls might be crying from the depths of your self-imposed prisons, and you might not even be aware of their pain. How might this pain be expressed? Maybe it’s a low self-esteem. Many women, no matter how beautiful they are, suffer from incredibly low self-esteem. They try hide it by focusing on their looks- spending hours shopping for that perfect black dress, trying on the latest shade of red lipstick, or getting their weekly mani/pedi. This at least takes some time away from having to deal with their issues. The rest of the week may be filled up by going out for drinks with friends after work, or watching “reality” dramas on TV, or switching boyfriends.

Maybe it’s anxiety or depression. No one likes to face their darker side, and we do what we can to avoid dealing with it. It’s hard to let these feelings overcome us when we’re busy focusing on our looks. Hours spent at the gym flirting and exercising can easily fill up that void. Trying to achieve the perfect tan is another way we might let the hours slip by. Ah, the beach. Most young, fashionable women wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a one-piece! And if that bikini bottom doesn’t show your protruding hip bones, it’s covering too much!

Many liberated women suffer from the perpetual competition to look their best. Think about it- why are they always trying to be the most attractive in the crowd? Why would they care if one of their girlfriends looks prettier than they look? Why are they trying to stand out, or get noticed by other men? What are they trying to prove? This is a sad casualty of our liberation. Society has taught us that in order to feel liberated and modern, we must dress according to society’s expectations. So wait a minute- we think we’re exercising our freedom to dress as we want, but really, we’re being programmed to do so. We’re not free, ladies. Not only are we acting like robots, following society’s directives to behave as we’re told, but our souls are being suffocated by our liberation. For any woman who really thinks that she is dressing in a unique way, I have this to say- unless you’re designing and sewing your own clothes, you’re following the trend of fashion, just like everyone else.

I can tell you from experience, because I’ve been there- looking beautiful doesn’t make you happy. It certainly doesn’t make your life the fairytale you may wish it were. Your Prince Charming is not going to stay swept off his feet by your gorgeous looks forever. You may say that a woman can still be at peace with herself and dress to kill. I disagree. There is a fine line between dressing elegantly and dressing to get attention. If you’re choosing the latter, it benefits you to discover why. Looking for attention this way is a symptom of something lacking in your life. Whatever you are missing, you must make an effort to find it. Don’t misunderstand me- I’m not saying that because I dress modestly now that I’m a more confident, at-peace-with-myself woman. Of course, part of it is that I don’t want to take any blessings away from my family and anyone else’s, which is exactly what you are doing when you cause a man to stare at you. He’s just stealing your energy and losing his own. What I am saying is that because I have worked on my personal issues (and continue to do so), I no longer feel the need to attract attention. I have liberated myself from the platinum chains of society’s expectations. Therefore, I can dress modestly and not feel any less beautiful. Sure, it’s still hard to go with my hair covered. I think that will take a while longer to get used to. But overall, I feel more beautiful now than ever. Remember, beauty comes from within. If your soul is shining, no matter what you are wearing, you will always look and feel beautiful. To learn more about what it means to have real beauty, listen to Rabbi Brody’s fabulous CD entitled, “Your Beauty”.[/wpex]